The annual Congress of International Federation of Poker proved has proved a triumph in Lviv, Ukraine.Delegates from some 30 countries left Lviv yesterday after achieving all they had hoped at the fourth annual congress of IFP. Hosted at his city-centre British Club by well-known local figure Gary Bowman, a board member of IFP, the three-day Congress focused on the exciting future ahead of this dynamic new international sports federation.

The Congress enjoyed detailed presentations on the online membership platform which IFP plans to launch next year. The IFP board also met with its marketing partner, Mind Sports Partners, to discuss details of the membership offer designed to attract a global community of poker players who enjoy poker purely for the love of the game, with no money involved.

“With an estimated 300 million players worldwide, IFP consolidated its plans for a very exciting future after growing to its present strength in only three years since its foundation in Lausanne,” said IFP President Anthony Holden. “This has been a historic weekend in the history the Mind Sport we all love,” added IFP’s host, Gary Bowman, referring to IFP’s membership of the International Mind Sports Association (IMSA).

Delegates also heard details of IFP’s next event, the European Nations Cup, to be staged in March after a qualifying tournament in Vienna next month. This event uses IFP’s patent Match Poker (a version of duplicate poker) where the same hands are dealt simultaneously at all tables to ensure that skill prevails over chance.

Master of Ceremonies at the Congress was Patrick Nally, the “founding father of sports marketing”, who has built IFP to its current strength of almost 50 member-nations worldwide. The Congress also enjoyed a lavish banquet with music, dancing and celebration after its day-long deliberations, which Patrick Nally saw as “a symbol of the unity and strength of IFP”.

“IFP is very grateful to Gary Bowman for his generous hospitality,” said Holden. “This weekend in Lviv will go down in poker history as a milestone in the growth of this vibrant Federation.”